Bowling alley



R. B. HANFORD.

BOWLING ALLEY.

APPLICATION FILED III/w23. 1921.

Patented Oct. 24, 1922.

R. B. HANFORD.

BOWLING ALLEY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1921. I LSQXYZ. f Patented Oct. 24., i922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented @et 24, 1922.

NEE STATS RALPH B. EAN FORD, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOWLING ALLEY.

.Application led May 2 3, 1921.

To all Iwhom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, RALPH B. HANFORD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bowling Alleys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in portable bowling alleys for home use, for the playing of ten-pms and other games kindred thereto, such as nine-pins, cocked hat, etc., and for which purpose the bowling alley is provided with a spring-gun for projecting the ball used for playing the game and games on the alley.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide such a bowling alley with means adapted to spot the pins in their set-up operative position in the absence of any marks on or recesses for that purpose in the alley,

and which means is movably directed in a l straight line towards and from its operative position and detachably supported, free and clear of the pins, in a plane substantially above the set-up pins.

Another object of my invention is to provide a vertically pivoted gun with means whereby it may be bodily shifted transversely from one side of the alley to the other, for the rojection of the ball along lines corresponding with those it has when manually projected in playing ten-pins and other games analogous thereto.

With these ends in view, my invention finds embodiment in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts by which the said objects are attained, all as hereinafter fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Fig. 1 illustrates in plan a ten-pin alley and a gun therefor, in which my invention finds its embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the .line 2 of Fig. 1.

Figi?) is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan partly in horizontal section, taken on the line 4: of Fig. 2. l

Fig. 4B is a rear end elevation partly in section.

Serial No. 471,657.

Fig. 5 is a detached longitudinal section of the gun. y

Fig. 6 is a detail vertical section taken on the line 6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a plan View of the alley and the pin spotting device, with the pin receptacle detached therefrom; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 8 of Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings. v

- A indicates the bed or table of a portable bowling alley ordinarily constructed of wood, but may be of any other material suitable for its purposes, which bed or table is provided at one end (see Figs. land 7) with a detachable pin-catching-and-holding receptacle B, having cushioned lining walls C for deadening the noise of the falling pins and for preventing them from being marred and bruised when impelled into the receptacle.

The alley is provided longitudinally at its opposite sides with gutters 9-9, in which to return any number of balls from the receptacle B to within convenient reach for loading them into the gun, either before or after all of the pins 10 may be knocked down in the course of playing the game.

The bowling bed is provided adjacent the pin-end and on op-posite sides, with companion guide-standards 11 and 12, which are rigidly secured in place. Companion vertically slidin brackets 13 and 14 are rigidly secured to t e respective edges of a pinsetting-frame 15, and are loosely mounted on standards 11 and 12, as best shown in Fig. 3. This pin-setting-frame is provided with pin apertures 16 and is shown in its highest or normal position and is secured in place by a catch 17,v having a pivotal connection 18 with standard 11, and provided with a hook-end 19 detachably engaging said frame. The lowermost position of the pinspotting frame 15 is indicated in dotted lines.

is then raised up and secured in its normal out-of-the-way position, leaving the pins standing in regular formation.

The portable alley of my invention, when made large enough for outdoor playing, as may be, or for installation in a room of more than ordinary length, or a hall, and when so made, the games thereon may be, and preferably are, played with manually propelled balls; but when the dimensions of the alley are confined to \a size adapting them for use in a house, the rooms of which are occupied for a home, a mechanically operated gun, mounted on the alley, is preferably employed as a means for projecting the balls in the playing of ten-pins, nine-pms, cocked hat and such other games as may be, and for this purpose there is preferably employed a tube or gun barrel 20, open at the front end and closed at the rear end, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 5. A coil spring 21 is loosely inserted in the rear end of the tube member and a charge expelling bolt member 22 is inserted in advance of and bears against said spring. Plate 23 is secured to the bolt 22 by a screw 24, the plate being imbedded in the bolt to form a stop-shoulder 26. The bolt 22 is also provided with a groove 27 and a st0p-screw 28 for the gun mechanism, the purpose of which will be explained further along. A trigger rod or member 29 is pivoted to a fulcrum lug 30, adjacent its inner end, the outer end being free.

The upper end of a pin 31 is secured to the inner end of trigger 29, the lower loose end extending down into groove 27. The function of pin 31 in connection with the trigger element is to control and limit the movement of the expelling bolt 22. One end of a leaf spring 32 is secured to the handle end of the trigger-rod, the free end bearing on the surface of the gun-tube.

In Fig. 4 the gun-tube is shown loaded with a ball pojectile 33, all the other parts being in a corresponding firing position. That is, the bolt 22 is in its rearmost position, compressing spring 21, in storing up the required discharging tension. The pin 31 is shown in engagement with shoulder 28l which locks bolt 22 against a forward movement. Now, by depressingthe handle end of the trigger-rod to the position shown in Fig. 5, pin 31 is released from its blocking engagement with shoulder 28 and the bolt 1' shot forward by the action of the spring compressed against the rear end thereof and the projectile discharged. The forward movement of the expelling bolt is arrested by the pin 31, riding in groove 27, coming in contact with stop-shoulder 26. It will be noticed that the shoulders 26 and 28 lie in different planes, Which makes possible the operation described, and hold the triggerrod down to the position shown in Fi 5. When the expelling bolt is forced bac in the operation of loading, the pin 31 automatically drops into engagement with shoulder 28 by the action of spring 32 in throwing the trigger-rod up to the position shown in Fig. 5.

The gun device is automatically mounted on a movable base support 34, having a handle-shaped end 35, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The gun-tube or barrel is secured to the base-part by a pivot-pin-36 which allows for a proper manipulation of the gun-tube in pointing the same in diiferent directions to bring different objects into range, as a single unit of a group of ten-pins. A plate 37 is rigidly secured to the -rear end of the tablebed and is. provided longitudinally with a rabbet groove 38 for the engagement of the head end of a bolt 39 connecting with the base-support 34 and provides for a transverse movement of the same in changing its position oriin conveniently removing or replacing it in its working position. A section detail of plate 37 is shown in Fig. 6.

By the above-described arrangement, it will be seen that the gun-attachment can be bodily removed out of the way when the game is preferably to be played by hand, or for other purposes, such as storage, shipment or in making repairs.

The table-bed A is provided at each side with a ball-returnway 40, a sectional detail of the rear end of which is shown in Fig. 8. Each returnway is provided with an inclined surface or part 41, over which the return balls pass before they drop into the home receptacle 42. This will have the effect of checking up the momentum or speed of the returning balls and lessen the noise and shock incident thereto.

No movement of support is shown or described, but it is obvious that the device may be placed on an ordinary table or on the floor when the game is played by hand, or it may be supported at any desired height by some means usually convenient at hand.

The bowling alley of my invention and the gun therefor may be made small enough in size for classification as a toy, or may be made on the largest scale now employed and permanently installed on a foundation such as is commonly employed for bowling alleys of great length and providing for the play? ing of the ame by manually projecting balls widely di ering in diameter.

In conclusion, it is to be noted that, with the spider held in its elevated position above the pins by a trigger and free to fall by gravity to its operative position, the time for moving the spi er to engagement with the trigger in its locked position and its descent to its operative position is reduced to a minimum; and that, in providing for the lateral adjustment of a pivoted gun, the range of the gun is correspondingly` increased and the varlous posltions it may occupy in playing the game more clearly resemble that heretofore followed by the players manually impelling the balls.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combinationjvith a bowling alley, of guide standards at opposite sides thereof, of a pin spotter sleeved on said standards free to descend-by gravity'to its operative position, means for positioning the spotter in its elevated operative position and re.

leasir'ilg it therefrom.

2. he combination with a bowling alley, and guide standards at opposite sides thereof, of apin spotter sleeved on said standards free to descend' by gravity to its .operative position, and mea-ns for detachably' locking the spotter to andl adjacent the upper ends of the standards.

3. The combination With a bowling alley, of guide standards atopposite sides thereof, a pin spotter, brackets sleeved on said standards, a pin spotter supported by said brackets free to fall by gravity from its elevated position to its operative position, and a trigger pivoted to the upper end of one of said standards, adapted to engage and detachably lock the pin spotter in its elevated position inta plane above the pins.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 21st day of May, 1921.

RALPH B. HANFORD.

In the presence of Witnesses:

JN0. G. ELLIOTT, H. SLACK. 

